176 [Januai-y, 



and from its summit may be obtained, on a clear day, a most extensive 

 and charming view, embracing the whole of the Straits, and the 

 Mediterranean shores nearly as far as Malaga, with a glimpse of the 

 distant "Lesser Atlas" in Morocco. From its abruptness and isolation, 

 the Rock is a great "weather-breeder," and when an easterly wind or 

 " Levanter " prevails, as it does throughout most of the summer, the 

 top is hidden for days together by a heavy pall of misty cloud stretching 

 far across the Bay, while the sun is shining brightly over the adjoining 

 country. Though the town, situated at the western foot of the Rock, 

 is exposed to the full influence of the afternoon sunshine, the summer 

 heat is never excessive, rarely exceeding at any time 85° in the shade. 

 February is the coldest month, frost and snow beng very rare, although 

 not quite unknown. The average annual rainfall is about 36 inches, 

 nearly all occurring between October and April: by the end of August 

 the whole country, unrefi'eshed by a shower for the past three months, 

 becomes as dry and brown as a high road. In this genial climate some 

 of the butterflies continue on the wing the whole year round, and 

 there is scarcely a sunny day in any month on which specimens of 

 Pieris hrossiccd* and rapce* Colias J^dnscr* Satip'us ^geria* Pyrameis 

 cardui* and Atalanta* and Chri/sopliamis PhJceas* may not be met 

 with in sheltered places. 



Much of the western side of the Rock, above the town and its 

 fortificatious, is covered with a dense bushy vegetation, most luxuriant 

 towards the southern end near the summit. The flora of the district 

 is, indeed, by no means a scanty or insignificant one, no fewer than 

 484 species'[;of flowering plants being enumerated by Dr. Kelaart 

 (Flora Calpensis, London, 1846) as occurring on the Rock itself and 

 the small adjoining piece of sandy ground extending to the Spanish 

 lines : of these some 32 are introduced or cultivated, leaving the large 

 number of 452 native to Gibraltar. The dwarf palm, OhamcBrops 

 liumiUs forms a conspicuous feature in the vegetation of the Rock, 

 and in the early spring months of February, March, and April, the 

 abundance and beauty of the wild flowers {Boragmece, ComiiositcB, 

 Labiatte, OrcMdece, and LUiacece, predominating) is very striking. One 

 very pretty Crucifer, the Iheris gihraltarica, of Linne, has its only 

 European station here, its large lilac flowers adorning the rock-faces in 

 April and May, and, earlier in the year, the trefoil leaves and golden 

 yellow blossoms of Oxalis cernua, Thunb., an introduced Cape plant, 

 cover large spaces on the lower slopes. At the back of the Alameda, 

 or public garden, is a good sized grove of Scotch firs, but on the whole, 

 trees are rare, except in the gardens, and planted along the road sides. 



